What Makes Healthy Food Healthy: From a Stress Perspective

Manal Elfakhani wrote . . . . . . The holiday season is in full swing, and with it comes time for family celebration while gathering around tables full of delicious foods with seasonal spices! But it can also be a stressful time of year, with substantial meal preparation as well as stress in the […]

“The main problem with the past decades’ low-fat trend is that it has been misinterpreted.”

That’s how the Los Angeles Times article begins (it reminds me of being on the playground with that know-it-all who is never wrong just misinterpreted). And then it is elaborated upon by Dr. David Heber, founding director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition: “There is no real low-fat controversy, the problem wasn’t low fat; the problem was that when we lowered fat content, we increased carbohydrate and sugar content.”

Here’s the problem with that statement and they say it themselves: “If you cut back on saturated fat, you’re going to replace it with either unsaturated fat or carbohydrates. The type of replacement can have a major impact on health outcomes.” (at the time of the advice, they believed “fat was fat” btw) Continue reading →

Rosie O’Donnell on a recent episode of “The View” shared her experience with a near fatal heart attack and its association with her obesity. Rosie has since had surgery to address her obesity, which she refers to as the disease that caused her heart problems, health problems and almost destroyed her life. However, is obesity a disease?

This is a tricky concept. The way Rosie and her doctor spoke about it on the show was a little off to me. That obesity causes heart disease and diabetes. I don’t think its quite that linear, direct or simple. And it begs the question what is causing obesity? Continue reading →

The most provocative aspect of the study by Tomasetti and Vogelstein is not what is causing cancer, we know that certain environmental carcinogens like smoking can be responsible for cancer. Rather its that we just learned definitively that most cancers are not coming from direct and line Continue reading →

My Sunday morning peruse of recipes and news led me to click on Jamie Oliver’s post “Dairy & gluten-free Chocolate Chip and Avocado Cookies”. It started off very politically correct and Jamie (correction: This was written by Bee Berrie of Bee’s Bakery) carefully skirting any political do’s or don’ts of agreement on removing such things as gluten and dairy and just discussing the joys of learning something new. This is the way many of us live our lives exploring options and respecting others curiosity and even issues. He does such a great job of expressing this until he gets to one sentence. “… butter is high in saturated fat – the bad type of fat that can increase the levels of cholesterol in your bloodstream”. I don’t blame Jamie Bee she is only repeating what she has heard. Replacing or getting larger variety of fats is healthy for us. But calling saturated fat “bad” is like yelling at your dog or your lover that he/she is bad when they misbehave. Continue reading →

For me I take the philosophy of a “stress approach” and systems (it depends on the system) approach to good food. So fats/sugars can be physiologically stressful, so balance those main (high quality sourced) macronutrients (meat-carb-fat) with quality micronutrients (whole fruit, vegetables, herbs) or traditional sauce condiments that include fermented foods or dairy (probiotic source). This creates a “balanced” meal for our systems that is also delicious!

“MindHacks” writer Vaughan Bell’s tweet subsequently retweeted by “Not Exactly Rocket Science” Blogger Ed Yong states that the media turns “blame your genes” into attention-grabbing headlines. They worry the headlines are misleading the public into thinking they are no longer responsible for their problems. That the articles are for those who want to absolve themselves of responsibility for badly behaving toddlers or so they can blame their genes rather than themselves for being a lazy couch potato or binge eating. If we can blame our genes then we’re not responsible, right? But where does that thought process come from? Most likely from our instruction that genes are out of our control random things we inherent from our parents. Therefore if genes are to blame, then we, our environment, is not. Those were our choices, either our genes or our environment were to blame for such things.

In defense of the articles, that is not what the authors or researchers seem to be actually saying. Continue reading →

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Food Paradigm Shift

The Meal Matters Most is about how food impacts our ability to handle stress. The classic approach of nutrition establishments is about needing individual nutrients and "getting rid" of anything that can be unhealthy. They get rid of fat, sugar and salt. An ecosystem stress view is based rather on the interaction of foods within the meal and the interaction with our bodies. What makes healthy food healthy depends on the context and the system. This is the way traditional foods and cultures evolved with and created menus and meals. Which is why the Meal Matters Most. It's all about the interaction of flavors. Combinations that made food delicious also makes food healthy. The foods work synergistically together to abate stress. Stress from both foods themselves (breakdown and byproducts) and the stress we experience in our daily lives. Stress is about appropriate challenge, appropriate resources and appropriate recovery so we can be challenged again. Stress is about getting what we need and being able to constantly grow from our interactions and environment.

Disclaimer

This site is for informational purposes only. This site is a personal interpretation of the evidence all final interpretation should be that "more study is needed". Nothing on this site is meant as medical advice. Links and citations do not confer or represent endorsement of either party. Consult with your physician or health professional.